GREENFIELD, Mass.–U.S. acreage devoted to organic cotton rose 9 percent in 2008, to 9,279 acres, according to figures from the Organic Trade Association.
Other measures released by the OTA show that production of organic cotton is still rising. In 2007, the most recent year with available statistics, 14,025 bales of organic cotton were harvested, 73 percent more than in 2006. In addition, the average price per pound that cotton farmers are realizing for their crops rose from a range of 85 cents to $1.25 in 2006 to between $1 and $1.50 in 2007. The same holds true for farmers of organic pima cotton, whose prices from a per-pound basis shifted from a range of $1.65 to $2.09 in 2006 to $1.05 to $3 in 2007.
The OTA projected that U.S. acreage for organic cotton will jump 29 percent in 2009, to about 12,000. The OTA also said organic-cotton farmers will face several challenges next year, including the need for educational and economic resources to support their organic practices and to build awareness of, and access to, markets for organic-cotton products.
